Amalgamator



Nov. 15, 1-949 G. M. TANGEN ET AL 2,488,447

AMALGAMATOR Filed March 12, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ll +40 HV/O' 1 'INVENTORS GLENN M. TANGEN /4 CARL o. 7NGE/V V Mnonug 7 Nov- 15, 1949 G. M. TANGEN ET AL 2,488,447

AMALGAMATOR Filed March 12, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 llllllllllf ll I I I W INVENTORS GLEN/V M. TANGEN B CA L O. T N EN '%(,Z4d 7 E A ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 15, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AMALGAMATOR Glenn M. Tangen and Carl 0. Tangen, Seattle, Wash.

Application March 12, 1948, Serial No. 14,573

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to an apparatus for amalgamating gold and silver from concentrates and free milling ores.

Various attempts have been made to separate gold and silver particles from waste matter in concentrates and free milling ores, but they have not been economical or sufiicient for removing all, or the desirable proportion of the precious metals. Gold particles from some localities are found in cased within hard shells of clay and sand, which are diificult to remove, and no satisfactory means are known for the purpose. Attempts have been made for separating the gold and silver from concentrates by submersion in molten lead, but no satisfactory apparatus has been known therefor,

and attempts to mount bearing supports for moving parts of machinery within the lead result in damage to the machinery. In ordinary use of molten lead, a material portion thereof is lost by oxidation on the surface.

It is therefore among the objects of this invention to remove approximately all of the gold, silver and precious metals from waste matter in concentrates, economically.

Another object is to provide an apparatus for conducting the concentrates into lower portions of molten lead by gravity and suction, and for buifeting and mixing the concentrates and heated lead, and separating all the precious metals, and

precipitating the same, and discharging the waste matter and tailings to the surface of the lead and maintaining a covering thereof over the lead to prevent oxidation thereof.

A particular object is to provide a retort for molten lead with a tubular shaft rotatably and vertically disposed over the lead with the lower end thereof immersed within the lead and above the floor for conducting concentrates through the shaft by gravity and to provide means affixed to the lower end of the shaft for mixing the concentrates and lead and driving the same laterally and upwardly to provide suction beneath the tube for drawing the concentrates downward into the lead, together with bearings for supporting the shaft mounted above the lead and means for rotating the shaft.

With these and other objects to be hereinafter stated, we have illustratively exemplified our invention by the accompanying drawings, of which:

Figure 1 shows a front elevation of the assembled apparatus with most parts in section. Figure 2 is a bottom plan of baffle plate and impeller blades taken on lines 2-2 of Fig. 1. Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the baffle plate partitions and agitator vanes attached to the lower end of the tubular shaft. Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical front elevation of parts shown in Fig. 3. Figure 5 is an enlarged top plan view of the partitions and side vanes taken on lines 5--5 of Fig. 4, and Figure 6 is a reduced top plan of the retort, and conical chamber in the base thereof and an arm afiixed to the shaft for removing surplus tailings from over the lead.

Like numerals on the different figures represent like parts. Numeral 8 indicates any suitable form of funnel or hopper for discharging concentrates 9 in the top of the tubular shaft 22, for conveying the concentrates down into a retort with side walls ID, supported by legs Ill, or other suitable means. Numeral l l indicates any conventional casing for a blower fan and I2 indicates any ordinary burner nozzle for heating a chamber [4 within a jacket l3 around the sides and bottom of the retort for melting lead in the retort, and provided with any flue l5 for escape of smoke. The top of the jacket is connected to the outer edges of a bracket flange l6, and supported upon the upraised end It of the flange is a plate H in spaced relation above the retort connected by bolts I8. The plate provides lateral support for the shaft 22, and also for the bottom of a casing l9, which in operation is kept filled with oil for lubrication of driving gears 20 on the shaft, and 2| on lateral stub shaft 28 rotatably mounted in sleeve 29 and packing 3B. Centrally disposed in the top of the casing is a lateral guide bearing 23, and a combination side and supporting bearing in usual forms as 24 is mounted centrally upon the bottom plate l'l. Upon the shaft is affixed a collar 26 which in operation rides upon the central cone 21 of the bearing, whereby the shaft 22 is easily rotated by the stub shaft 23 from any suitable source of power. The bearings are provided with ordinary packing 25, to prevent escape of oil from the tank.

The location of the support bearings 24 at a distance above the heated lead is especially important, as attempts have been made to operate bearings within bodies of heated lead, but the bearings so placed were speedily burned out and made inoperative, by the heated lead.

For convenience in assembling the operative parts the low portion of the shaft indicated as 22 is removably connected by ordinary collar assembly 22 but is herein treated as integral with the remainder of the tube 22. The lower extremity of the tubular shaft 22 is suspended in spaced relation above the bottom of the retort, and spaced above such lower end a baffle plate 3| is affixed thereon, and spaced below the baffle plate is a cap 3| from which depends four partitions Walls 32 3 across the bottoms of which is attached a floor plate 3!. Attached to the outer edges of the partitions vanes 33, 34, and 36 are slopingly disposed outwardly thus when rotated clockwise the vanes exert pressure against the surrounding lead and concentrates when ejected from the compartments between the partitions and the vanes, the concentrates being drawn downward through the tube of the shaft partly by gravity and partly by suction created by the rotating vanes. As the successive vanes extend outward beyond the following successive partitions, doorways 32 are left open for the escape of the concentrates from the chambers which together form a receptacle beneath the tube for gathering and dispersing the concentrates into the heated lead. These vanes indicated as above each carry a flange laterally extended therefrom and numbered respectively 37, 38, 39 and 40. Each begin at the forward edge of the respective vanes and each slope upward, providing together a complete spiral fromthe base of the receptacle to the top thereof, which in operation on rotation of the tube and receptacle tend to raise or elevate the surrounding-mixture of, lead and concentrates providing a second buffeting of the mixture to facilitate the removal of waste matter from the precious metals and the-melting. andprecipitation of such metals into the bottom of the retort. In practice the concentrates are preferably preheated before introductioninto the tube at approximately 1000 degrees Fahrenheit or slightly below the melting point of the precious metals and the supply of lead in the retort is maintained at a temperture of approximately 2000 degrees Fahr. or sufficient a to assure the breaking up of the concentrates and melting of the metals.

Extended upward from the bottom of the retort and circularly disposed therein is a wall 44' providing a chamber M with an open mouth 45 at the .top all in spaced relation from the sides of the vaneseand-baffies. The walls are sloped inward toward the top and form in general a frusto-conical chamber in which the most part of the metals are heated and precipitated, and any remainder of the metals are later melted and separated from the waster matter While passing upward through the outside body of lead to the top of the retort, preferably at least 22 inches. Inpractice it has been shown that the sloping walls fi' exert a degree of compression on the mixture of concentrates and lead when thrown outward by the vanes and flanges increasing the rate of separation of the metals from the waste matter and also tend to discharge the remainder outward or upward through the mouth 45 against the baffle SI from which they are impelled outward by flanges 4! on rotation of the shaft and thus completing the several buifetings of the concentrates in the heated lead for separating the precious metals. Any remaining fraction of the precious metals when melted outside of the chamber 44 are precipitated into a channel d6 around the base of the walls and may be drawn off from time to time by any suitable duct and valve indicated as 46, which duct also drains the metal from the bottom of the chamber, all of which metal is then allowed to form into ordinary ingot-s as of gold, silver and other precious metals. In order to maintain the surface of the lead in the retort at a certain point, fresh lead is added into the retort in equal bulk, as the amounts of metals withdrawn as stated. Any suitable number of holes indicated as 41 are provided through the-walls of the chamber 44 for inward flow of 4 the heated lead while the mixture of lead and concentrates is being expelled from the top of the chamber during the revolutions of the shaft which are preferably and approximately at the rate of 600 revolutions per minute.

In practice it has been found that the surface of heated lead is rapidly oxidized whereby important parts or portions of the lead is lost and in order to prevent this waste we provide a seal thereover to protect the surface of the lead from the air above. This is accomplished by maintaining the surface of the lead approximately four inches beneath the top of the retort and maintaining this space filled with the waste matter and tailings which rise up through the lead from the concentrates, whereby all loss from oxidation is prevented. As the agitation of the bufieting means in the base of the retort causes some rise in the surface of the lead, this rise must be allowed for in providing suitable space for collec tion of sufficient tailin gs above as described. In order to prevent excessive depth of the tailings an arm 12 is afiixed to the shaft 22 which revolves above the retort and wipes off all the surface tailings which are carried away or discharged through any suitable number of chutes indicated as 43.

Having described our invention we claim for patent:

1. An apparatus for smeltin precious metals from concentrated ores, comprising, a retort for melting and retaining heated lead, a tubular shaft rotatably and vertically mounted above the lead and having the lower end thereof immersed in the heated lead for conducting concentrates by gravity and suction downward through the shaft below the, surface of the lead, a casing mounted above the retort for maintaining the shaft in vertical position and for retaining oil for lubricating gears for-rotating the shaft, a collar aflixed around the shaft and a thrust bearing positioned beneath the collar above the lead to prevent injury to the bearing from the heated lead, and for supporting'the lower end of the shaft free from the floor of the retort to facilitate discharging concentrates therein, a receptacle attached to the lower end of the shaft for gatherin the concentrates therefrom having vertical partitions and vanes extending outwardly from the edges of the successive partitions for discharging the concentrates laterally through passageways along the rear edges of the vanes for mixing the concentrates with the heated lead and for creating suction beneath the shaft fordrawing down the concentrates, circular walls extended upward from the bottom of the retort in spaced relation around the vanes for arresting the outward flow of the concentratesto increase the melting of the precious metals within the walls, said, vanes having flanges extended laterally therefrom and sloping npwardrespectively and eachbeginning at the termination of the preceding vane and forming a spiral from base to top of the receptacle for agitating and elevating the concentrates, a bafile plate attached to the shaft in spaced relation above the receptacle for arresting the upward flow of the concentrates, said baffle; plate having-flanges dependent therefrom-for impelling the concentrates outward for upward flow through the heated lead for completing removal of all the precious metals for melting and precipitation thereof.

' '2. An apparatus for smelting precious metals from-concentrates or ores, comprising, a retort for melting and retaining melted lead, a tubular shaft vertically and rotatablymounted above the heated lead and having the lower end thereof immersed within the lead in spaced relation above the bottom of the retort for conducting concentrates into the heated lead for cleaning and separating the precious metals therefrom, a receptacle for gathering and distributing the concentrates beneath the shaft being attached to the shaft and having a cap and floor member and a plurality of vertical partitions crosswise between the same, vanes attached along the outer edges of the partitions and sloping outward therefrom successively providing doorways for escape of the concentrates between the partitions, said vanes having lateral flanges for mixing the concentrates and lead for melting and separating the precious metals therefrom and for forcing the mixture outward and upward to create suction beneath the shaft for drawin down therein supplies of the concentrates, circular walls sloping upward and inward within the retort from base thereof in frusto-conical shape in spaced relation REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 58,981 Brown Oct. 23, 1866 281,629 Huntington July 16, 1883 2,125,291 Hayden Aug. 2, 1938 

